Sexuality in Heavy Metal Music

A Glimpse at how the Modern Culture Views Heavy Metal Music and Sex. Those who consider themselves a bit old school know that the popularity of the heavy metal music genre peaked sometime in the early to mid-1970s. It initially started as a sub-genre of mainstream rock and roll. then it was fully being assimilated into the modern pop culture as a standalone genre. But unlike rock and roll, heavy metal is considered to be a little more liberal and distinctively thematic especially as far as sexuality is concerned. For instance, groupies of heavy metal rock stars are not just enthusiastic fans but also seen as sexual elements of the artiste’s social life. Which, of course, draws a peculiar connection between heavy metal music and sex.

The Portrayal of Women in Heavy Metal Music

Realistically speaking, the portrayal of women – just like most Western music genres – is decidedly sexual. In that, the visual language of heavy metal music videos uses the female sexuality to intertwine and express sexual desire through either the portrayal of the female body or voice in the lyrics. In other words, from the perspective of heavy metal music, women are not seen as just women, but as beings just playing their sexual and gender roles. For this reason, this kind of perception has a way of reducing women as merely sexual objects to be gratified and put on a pedestal only for the sexuality that they can bring to the music and not their personality.

That being said, as observed earlier, the female groupies of heavy metal music bands are not viewed merely as adoring fans. On the contrary, they are seen as a faction of the band whose role is to bond sexually with the male members and sometimes provide ‘sexual services’ before, during and after concerts. And the same is reflected throughout their performances – both live and recorded – as evidenced by the micro mini skirts, spiked heels and fishnet stockings that these groupies sport in most heavy metal music videos. In fact, before the advent of the Youtube and MTV age, groupies of hard metal music rockstars were used to stage wild backstage parties for shooting private music videos that weren’t accessible to the main public domain.

The Music Videos

Heavy metal music videos, just as the genre itself, have a strong sexual annotation which, once again, proves the overlapping connection between heavy metal music and sex. For starters, both men and women who star in these videos are typically in excellent physical condition with only a handful of such rock stars being morbidly overweight, such as the legendary meatloaf. Not only does this reveal the underlying sexual undertone of heavy metal music but also serve as a way of sexually stimulating the fans and viewers in a sinister dark way.

The Lyrical Content

One of the clearest connection between sex and Heavy metal music is often seen in the songs’ lyrical content. Most of it is what can be considered as lewd or taboo/slang in a conservative or religious settings. But this is not surprising as heavy metal music was dominated ever since its inception by sexual violence, agitation and content depicting sexual and physical aggression. What’s more, most often than not, the sexual nature of these lyrics is often reflected by how the rock stars treat their female dancers or groupies in the metal scene. In fact, the lyrics often directly or indirectly advocate and encourage the sexual control and domination by the male members. It is also one of the main contributing reasons women are treated and seen as mere sex vessels in these music videos and concerts. Most songs in this in this genre are quite literal and the recording artists will rarely hold back when it comes to describing intimate sexual content. If anything, a majority of these tracks have a title that directly depicts or alludes to sex. Which, as a matter of fact, makes it challenging for music from this genre to be approved for airing over mainstream public media channels.

That being said, perhaps the best practical link between these type of hard rock music and sex is evidenced by the fact that many people often find it to be just the perfect backdrop for lovemaking, particularly where both partners wishes to express their unfettered animalistic selves.